This information provided by my lawer
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What on earth is a "Priority Date" anyway?
The "Priority Date" of a visa case is the day it is officially placed in
queue (or, as we Americans say "in line") for the permanent residency
process. Priority dates are given to persons immigrating through relatives
who are permanent residents or through employment with a U.S. company. In
PT and RN cases, the date is set when the I-140 Petition is filed with the
INS. In all labor certification cases, it is set when the labor cert is
filed with the state job service. ("Immediate Relatives" are not subject
to an annual numerical cap, so they don't get priority dates. That means
that if 10,000,000 U.S. citizens marry foreigners, all of them can
immediately immigrate.) Since employment based categories are "preference"
visas, they have an annual numerical allotments per country. In countries
with very little immigration (such as Iceland, for example), numbers are
usually available. In countries with high rates of immigration to the
U.S.- such as India- the number of people applying annually exceed the
amount of available visas...so a backlog develops. The higher the number
of applicants, the longer the backlog.
How Do Priority Dates Work?
Many variables come into play in the progression of a priority date: a
family of five will take up 5 visa slots, while a single person will take
only one. That means that if 10,000 visas are available for, as an
example, India, and the first 2000 principal aliens (the employee) each
have four family member (plus themselves), those two thousand petitions
will use up the whole 10,000! On the other hand, if everyone had been
single, 10,000 principal aliens would have gotten in and there would be no
backlog. In addition, people drop out of the wait, some have spouses get
their green card...in short, a million variables. In October, when the new
fiscal year begins, more numbers become available. Sometimes, the State
Department goes back and learns that the projected usage of visas has
varied substantially in the past few months, and then they make
adjustments causing dramatic retrogressions.
What Do We Mean When We Say The Priority Dates Will Retrogress?
For the last few years, employment-based applicants have been very lucky.
If you visit the Visa Bulletin published by the Department of State to
track priority dates, you will notice that there is "C" next to all
categories. The "C" stands for current, meaning that there is no wait
to file for permanent residence. If you look at the family-based
petitions, you will see a very different story.
For example, if you look at the 4th preference category from India,
brothers and sisters of United States citizens, you will see a date of
February 15, 1992. That means that right now they are accepting I-485
applications and consular process applications from Indian brothers and
sisters for whom an I-130 was filed on February 15, 1992.
What this means is that as of January of 2005, you will also see that
dates for some employment-based categories, particularly the EB-3 category
for India, the Philippines and China will go backwards. How far back? We
do not know.
Here is an example to illustrate how this might work: let's say that you
are an Engineer from India. Let's say that your labor certification was
filed on January 1st of 2001. Your labor certification has now been
approved and you are ready to file your I-140 and I-485. If the
priority date has gone backwards beyond January 1st of 2001, it means that
there aren't any visa numbers available for you. You can file the I-140
but you cannot file your I-485 until the priority dates move forward to
January 1st of 2001 or beyond.
Who Should Be Concerned?
If you were born in mainland China, India or the Philippines and you are
an employment-based applicant, you should be concerned. Note that the
key is where you were born. For example, you were born in the Philippines
but you are now a Canadian citizen the priority date that applies to you
is the priority date for the Philippines NOT Canada.
What Can You Do?
If you were born in any of the countries mentioned above and you are
eligible to file your I-485 but have not done so, you should endeavor to
file it before the end of this year. Remember, you are eligible to file
your I-485 if your labor certification has been approved.
If you are Physical Therapist or a Registered Nurse and you are in the
United States either with a non-immigrant visa, you should apply for your
I-140/I-485 before the end of the year if it is at all possible. For
example, you are a PT presently in the U.S. in OPT status, you should
apply for your I-140/I-485. Another common example would be a PT who
does not have the Visa Screen and who will not be able to renew the H-1B
when it expires in a few months. If that is you, you should apply for
your permanent residence before the end of the year.
Where Can I Look At The Priority Dates?
The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin to keep us apprised
about the priority dates. You may find it on the following web page:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi_bulletincurrent.html
Remember, the employment-based categories are current for the time being.
You will probably not see a change until January. Once more, please
remember that this will probably only affect professionals from India, the
Philippines and mainland China.
---------------------------------------
What on earth is a "Priority Date" anyway?
The "Priority Date" of a visa case is the day it is officially placed in
queue (or, as we Americans say "in line") for the permanent residency
process. Priority dates are given to persons immigrating through relatives
who are permanent residents or through employment with a U.S. company. In
PT and RN cases, the date is set when the I-140 Petition is filed with the
INS. In all labor certification cases, it is set when the labor cert is
filed with the state job service. ("Immediate Relatives" are not subject
to an annual numerical cap, so they don't get priority dates. That means
that if 10,000,000 U.S. citizens marry foreigners, all of them can
immediately immigrate.) Since employment based categories are "preference"
visas, they have an annual numerical allotments per country. In countries
with very little immigration (such as Iceland, for example), numbers are
usually available. In countries with high rates of immigration to the
U.S.- such as India- the number of people applying annually exceed the
amount of available visas...so a backlog develops. The higher the number
of applicants, the longer the backlog.
How Do Priority Dates Work?
Many variables come into play in the progression of a priority date: a
family of five will take up 5 visa slots, while a single person will take
only one. That means that if 10,000 visas are available for, as an
example, India, and the first 2000 principal aliens (the employee) each
have four family member (plus themselves), those two thousand petitions
will use up the whole 10,000! On the other hand, if everyone had been
single, 10,000 principal aliens would have gotten in and there would be no
backlog. In addition, people drop out of the wait, some have spouses get
their green card...in short, a million variables. In October, when the new
fiscal year begins, more numbers become available. Sometimes, the State
Department goes back and learns that the projected usage of visas has
varied substantially in the past few months, and then they make
adjustments causing dramatic retrogressions.
What Do We Mean When We Say The Priority Dates Will Retrogress?
For the last few years, employment-based applicants have been very lucky.
If you visit the Visa Bulletin published by the Department of State to
track priority dates, you will notice that there is "C" next to all
categories. The "C" stands for current, meaning that there is no wait
to file for permanent residence. If you look at the family-based
petitions, you will see a very different story.
For example, if you look at the 4th preference category from India,
brothers and sisters of United States citizens, you will see a date of
February 15, 1992. That means that right now they are accepting I-485
applications and consular process applications from Indian brothers and
sisters for whom an I-130 was filed on February 15, 1992.
What this means is that as of January of 2005, you will also see that
dates for some employment-based categories, particularly the EB-3 category
for India, the Philippines and China will go backwards. How far back? We
do not know.
Here is an example to illustrate how this might work: let's say that you
are an Engineer from India. Let's say that your labor certification was
filed on January 1st of 2001. Your labor certification has now been
approved and you are ready to file your I-140 and I-485. If the
priority date has gone backwards beyond January 1st of 2001, it means that
there aren't any visa numbers available for you. You can file the I-140
but you cannot file your I-485 until the priority dates move forward to
January 1st of 2001 or beyond.
Who Should Be Concerned?
If you were born in mainland China, India or the Philippines and you are
an employment-based applicant, you should be concerned. Note that the
key is where you were born. For example, you were born in the Philippines
but you are now a Canadian citizen the priority date that applies to you
is the priority date for the Philippines NOT Canada.
What Can You Do?
If you were born in any of the countries mentioned above and you are
eligible to file your I-485 but have not done so, you should endeavor to
file it before the end of this year. Remember, you are eligible to file
your I-485 if your labor certification has been approved.
If you are Physical Therapist or a Registered Nurse and you are in the
United States either with a non-immigrant visa, you should apply for your
I-140/I-485 before the end of the year if it is at all possible. For
example, you are a PT presently in the U.S. in OPT status, you should
apply for your I-140/I-485. Another common example would be a PT who
does not have the Visa Screen and who will not be able to renew the H-1B
when it expires in a few months. If that is you, you should apply for
your permanent residence before the end of the year.
Where Can I Look At The Priority Dates?
The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin to keep us apprised
about the priority dates. You may find it on the following web page:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi_bulletincurrent.html
Remember, the employment-based categories are current for the time being.
You will probably not see a change until January. Once more, please
remember that this will probably only affect professionals from India, the
Philippines and mainland China.